Russia is preparing to present its climate strategy at the UN Cop 29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November, deputy prime minister Alexander Novak said.
Novak convened a meeting with Russian ministries on climate issues on 7 October, in which a forecast for Russia's emissions rates, in line with the country's 'low emissions economic development strategy to 2050', was discussed. The strategy was approved in 2021.
It is unclear whether the strategy is linked to Russia's new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) — a climate plan to be submitted to the UN. Cop parties are expected to publish their next NDCs to the Paris climate agreement — this time for 2035 — in November-February, as part of a cycle that requires countries to "ratchet up" their commitments every five years.
Russia's president Vladimir Putin announced Russia's 2060 net zero ambitions in October 2021, but the country has not updated its NDC since 2020.
The Cop 28 agreement signed in the UAE last year included an energy section calling for "transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems", a tripling of renewable capacity by 2030 and for "accelerating action in this critical decade", giving the direction countries need to take in the energy transition.
The country's main focus is on doubling the absorptive capacity of Russia's forests and producing and exporting more gas, to replace demand for more carbon-intensive oil and coal. Russia has no plans to reduce coal and oil output.
Russia's climate envoy Ruslan Edelgeriyev said in November 2022 that Moscow could achieve net zero a decade earlier than in 2060 if its access to international debt markets and technology was not blocked because of the sanctions imposed over Ukraine.
While reiterating net zero ambitions last year despite the sanctions, Putin repeatedly called accelerated decarbonisation irresponsible, claiming that it contributed to Europe's energy crisis in 2021.
